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Every inch a diva

Seth Drabinsky is Hedwig

01.08.2013

"There’s no heels in the show and I don’t have to tuck, so I’ve got my angry inch,” says Seth Drabinsky of how easily he transforms for his lead role in Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Pre-Hedwig, Drabinsky was earning his bachelor of music in opera performance, and before that he was “a musical- theatre geek in high school in Winnipeg. I used to go to HMV and peruse the musicals section. I was still in the closet and saw this CD with a drag queen on the cover. I fell in love with the songs but didn’t know much about the show. But I knew I wanted to do it.”

Drabinsky was persuaded to star in a Vancouver production. “At first I was reluctant because opera and Hedwig are so far apart, except for the diva part.” The show was a hit, a hit again at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, and Drabinsky has now been channelling the role for four years in a rock ’n’ roll–style tour. “It’s a rock concert during which you get the story,” he explains. “Until the end, with the crucifixion and resurrection. There’s no fourth wall. It’s great where I can reach out and touch them. Once I have the makeup, wig and costume, it’s pretty well there. And when you throw in an audience . . . The songs are some of the best you can ask for.”

Drabinsky refuses to see Hedwig as a “tranny on the stage” show; he believes the theme resonates with everyone. “It’s about the search for love. You have to love yourself for who you are. Love is not within someone else; it’s in you. And once you find that you’ll become whole.”